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Have you heard of Encruzado, a white wine from Portugal’s Dao wine region? Other Varieties From The Dao Red wine grapes include the more known Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro, Tinto Roriz (tempranillo) and Baga. White wine grapes from the Dao include Bical and Branda, in addition to Encruzado and Malvasia Fina. Old school wine and food pairing protocol dictate pairing meats with red wines however, the white wines had enough structure to stand up well with the meats too.

This brings me to Joseph Jewell Wines and Humboldt County, California pinot noir. Humboldt County native Adrian Manspeaker, owner, and winemaker at Joseph Jewell Wines was inspired by the elegant pinot noirs being produced by Gary Farrell Wines in Sonoma County. Today, Joseph Jewell Wines produces small lots of pinot noir from five vineyards (1/2 to 5 acre plots) in Humboldt County. I was introduced to Joseph Jewell Wines by Grand Reserve World Mastercard, a credit card that caters to wine lovers.

Unfortunately, in the early morning hours of September 28th, Castello di Amorosa sustained significant fire damage to the Farmhouse building, a separate 15,000 square foot building across the crush pad about 50 yards from the castle itself. Then, on a trip to France, he visited some ancient underground wine cellars and determined to build his own cellars in Napa Valley, and an authentic castle to showcase his Italian-style wines. I took the guided tour of Castello di Amorosa, which included a reserve wine tasting. Castello di Amorosa is a destination in itself If you choose not to take the guided tour, Castello di Amorosa is still a destination worth seeing in Napa Valley.

Either way, it has been a pleasure to reconnect with Sheila and discover her import company, Vero. Vero, means real in Italian and gusto means taste. The passion for creating Vero was born of her desire to afford small producers with quality products, a platform to share their stories with like-minded souls as passionate as she is about Italian culture. Sheila focuses on producers who are organic, biodynamic, have their own vineyards, and are living and working in their native regions.